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Describing India’s education system as a “rejection system” rather than a selection system, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that that the system places excessive financial burden and stress on students and middle-class families.
Addressing a rally titled ‘Chhatro Ki Goonj’ (echo of students) in the coaching hub of Kota, Gandhi said that the current education structure is “extremely stressful and unfair”.
“India’s education system is an extortion machine. We want a system that allows you to dream big,” he said, adding that young people in the country are being subjected to too much pain, stress and unhappiness.
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The leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha said that India’s education system puts pressure on children, stresses them and crushes them. “This is not good for the country. I want all of us to work together to ensure that no student in this country ever feels what this girl felt,” he said at the rally where he spoke to students on various issues such as paper leaks and unemployment.
“This is not a political meeting. This is a meeting about you, about the young people who are struggling to get a future. This evening is about you, the challenges that you are dealing with every single day,” he said in his opening remarks.
He claimed that the system pushes students mainly towards a few career paths such as engineering, medical and civil services, while discouraging alternative aspirations.
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He cited examinations such as NEET, JEE, UPSC Civil Services Examination, SSC Exam and RRB, saying that lakhs of candidates compete for a very limited number of successful outcomes.
“For NEET alone, around 22 lakh students appear, but less than one lakh get selected. These are extremely difficult odds,” he said.
He further alleged that the education economy extracts large amounts of money from families each year. “Students and their families spend amounts comparable to the government’s entire education budget just for one examination,” he claimed.
The BJP, however, accused Gandhi of playing politics at the expense of medical aspirants who are in the final leg of preparations for the June 21 NEET-UG re-exam.
“Is it because of the Congress’ internal politics that you want to play with the students’ sentiments there?” BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said at a press conference in New Delhi.
(With PTI inputs)
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